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Copyright - Spring 2013

In spring 2013, Harvard Law School
Professor and Berkman Center for Internet & Society Faculty Director
William Fisher III will be teaching Copyright through Harvard Law School and as an experimental course through edX.

This course will explore copyright law in depth. Approximately two thirds of the class time and readings will be devoted to the American copyright system; the remainder will be devoted to the major relevant multilateral treaties and to the laws pertaining to copyright and "neighboring rights" in other countries. Substantial attention will be paid to the efforts by philosophers and economists to justify, reform, or abolish the copyright system. Students will be expected to participate in an online discussion of the issues raised by the course. Materials will consist of a set of cases and secondary materials available through the course home page.

edX:

As
part of the edX slate of courses for Spring 2013, Harvard Law School
Professor and Berkman Center for Internet & Society Faculty Director
William Fisher III will be teaching Copyright, a version of his
traditional Copyright course at Harvard Law School. Copyright will
explore the law of copyright and the ongoing debates concerning how that
law might be reformed. It will also be offered as an experimental course, taking advantage of different
combinations and uses of teaching materials, educational technologies, and the edX platform.
500 learners will be selected through an open application process, and
supported by Harvard Law School Teaching Fellows in small sections.

Enrollment for the course is limited, in keeping with the belief that
high-quality legal education depends, at least in part, upon supervised
small-group discussions of difficult issues. Fidelity to that principle
requires confining the course to the number of participants that can be
supervised effectively by the 21 Teaching Fellows. The limit on the
enrollment does not mean, however, that there will not be access to
the course materials. On
the contrary, all of the readings and recorded lectures used in the
course will be made available to the public on Prof. Fisher's personal
site, http://tfisher.org.